The lowest common denominator got much lower with the release of "Soul
Plane," a frenetic comedy that takes off when an African-American man
loses his pet dog during a terrible in-flight experience. He sues the
carrier for damages, is awarded a massive settlement and decides to start
his own super-funky airline. Trying to be a no-holds-barred,
no-joke-left-unturned riot in the spirit of "Airplane," "Soul Plane" stoops
to the most stoopid sex, drugs, race and toilet humor. The enterprising
Nashawn (Kevin Hart) founds NWA Airlines. Accompanied by his more "street"
cousin Muggsy (rapper Method Man) and a bunch of urban players, he boards
the maiden voyage of his venture, and gets the par-tay started. Tom Arnold
is the token aghast white guy, stuck on the flight with his kids and bimbo
girlfriend. The pilot, Capt. Mack, was just released from jail. In one of
the movie's few inspired ideas, he's played by amusingly stoned-out rap-king
Snoop Dogg. Even when he barely says a word, Snoop is more entertaining than
most of the other cast members who, arrayed from first-class to coach,
represent various borderline-offensive black stereotypes. There are a few
gut-busting, in-spite-of-yourself laughs amid the waste and the wasted,
although there's no escaping the vulgarity. "Soul Plane" shouldn't be
grounded. Just banished to cable.